This is the last of our 30 team previews for the 2013 season. To review any of the previous previews, click here.

From 2002-10, the Minnesota Twins won the AL Central six times. They drafted well, taught their young talent to play fundamentally sound baseball and continually tapped their minor league system.

The past two seasons, however, Minnesota lost 195 combined games while posting last-place finishes. Clearly, some major changes need to be made in this once-proud franchise.

General manager Bill Smith was fired following the 2011 season after a four-year run that was marked by poor trades and unproductive signings. In an effort to revisit the success of the previous decade, the Twins rehired Terry Ryan.

It all starts with the pitching—the Twins’ staff was the second-worst (4.77 ERA) in the American League last season. The rotation was the central problem, even though Minnesota spent big on Carl Pavano, Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano.

Pavano was 2-5 with a 6.00 ERA before missing the final four months of the season with a shoulder injury. Baker was sidelined the entire year after having Tommy John surgery, and the erratic Liriano was traded to the division rival Chicago White Sox in July.

Having been burned by pricey, unreliable veteran starters, Ryan is rebuilding the Twins’ rotation with much younger arms.

Rookie lefthander Scott Diamond led Minnesota with 12 wins and a 3.54 ERA in 173 innings pitched last season.

Ryan traded center fielder Denard Span to the Washington Nationals for Alex Meyer (the 23rd overall pick in 2011). A 6-9 righthander, Meyer has an upper-90s fastball and had 139 strikeouts in 129 innings in Class A last season. Ryan also traded speedy outfielder Ben Revere to the Philadelphia Phillies for Vance Worley and Trevor May.

Worley was 6-9 with a 4.20 ERA in 23 starts last season. In 2011, the righthander was 11-3 with a 3.01 ERA. May, 23, had 151 strikeouts in 149 2/3 innings at Class AA in 2012.

Ryan also added veteran starters in free agents Kevin Correia (12-11 with a 4.21 ERA with the Pittsburgh Pirates last season), and Mike Pelfrey, who missed most of last season after having Tommy John surgery.

Liam Hendriks, Cole De Vries, Sam Deduno, Brian Duensing, Anthony Swarzak, Kyle Gibson and Pedro Hernandez are among the other starting options for longtime manager Ron Gardenhire, who might not survive a third consecutive last-place finish.

In the bullpen, which was a relative bright spot last season, former starter Glen Perkins has found new life as the closer while Jared Burton and Alex Burnett return as solid setup men.

The offense is in better shape than the pitching staff, but Span and Revere were key cogs at the top of the order and will be tough to replace.

Aaron Hicks and Darin Mastroianni are battling for the center-field job. Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham, Justin Morneau and Ryan Doumit return to provide some thunder in the middle of the order.

Willingham led Minnesota with 35 homers and 110 RBIs last season. Although Mauer delivered just 10 homers, he stayed healthy and hit .319 with 85 RBIs. Morneau was also healthy, putting up his best numbers (.267, 19 homers, 77 RBIs) since 2010.

3 REASONS TO BELIEVE

Mr. Dependable: Joe Mauer. He has won an AL MVP Award, four Silver Slugger Awards and three Gold Gloves. After an injury-plagued 2011 season, Mauer again was an elite hitter and an All-Star last season. He hit well in the World Baseball Classic, leaving no reason to doubt he will continue to batter AL pitchers in this season.

X-factor: Vance Worley. The Twins’ rotation ranked last in the league in ERA (5.40), strikeouts per nine innings (5.53) and quality starts (62), so Worley must step up. In his disappointing sophomore season, his ERA jumped more than a full run (from 3.01 in 2011 to 4.20 in 2012). Being in a bigger park should help and if he can fix whatever plagued him last season (part of it was injuries), Worley could become a dependable starter.

On deck: Chris Parmelee. He has shown promise and has thumped the ball in the minors, but he hasn’t consistently put it all together in the majors. At 25, Parmelee still is young enough to be going through growing pains. And he also still is young enough to burst onto the scene the way Minnesota hoped he would when it drafted him in the first round in 2006.

— Anthony Witrado

TEAM SNAPSHOT

OFFENSE: Mauer and Morneau still can get it done from the left side of the plate, and they fit nicely with Willingham and Doumit. With Revere and Span gone, Trevor Plouffe and Hicks must pitch in.

DEFENSE: Revere didn’t have much of an arm, and Span was never in Gold Glove consideration. But both covered a lot of ground, and it’s difficult to replace speed. Plouffe is shaky at third base.

ROTATION: The days of Johan Santana, Brad Radke and Scott Erickson are gone. The Twins have struggled to develop quality starters, and it has come back to haunt them. Diamond has been thrust into the No. 1 slot, a lot of pressure to put on a young guy.

BULLPEN: Perkins is no Joe Nathan, but he didn’t embarrass himself as the closer last season. He received plenty of help from Burton, who should get help from Casey Fien and waiver claim Josh Roenicke.

BENCH: Eduardo Escobar is a skilled defender capable of playing third base, shortstop and second, and Drew Butera is a solid backup catcher. Mastroianni/Hicks will provide outfield depth.

SCOUT’S VIEW

A major league scout analyzes LF Josh Willingham:

“He was a real nice pickup for Minnesota (as a free agent before last season), a good, solid everyday player. He had one of his better offensive years last season and was a solid all-around baseball player. He was a nice piece on a team that had a lot of problems, but his performance and intensity playing the game didn’t change much from the start of the season until the end. I wouldn’t be shocked if he wound up being moved at the trade deadline if the Twins aren’t in the mix. He’s got a lot of value.”

KEY STAT

The cumulative record of the Twins’ starters last season was 39-75. The rotation finished last in the AL in wins, ERA, innings pitched, strikeouts and quality starts. It’s hard to win many games with such an abysmal showing.

2013 OUTLOOK

What could go right: The young pitching could come together quicker than expected and help the Twins escape the AL Central cellar.

What could go wrong: If Minnesota fails to develop a leadoff man and No. 2 hitter to replace Span and Revere, who combined for 296 hits and 141 runs last season, it will spell trouble for the offense. Mauer, Willingham, Morneau and Doumit can produce runs, but somebody must get on base in front of them.

Bottom line: Once the undisputed class of the division, Minnesota will continue to struggle as the pitching develops.